Federal Jurisdiction - LAW 670

2-3 Hours

This course is a succinct yet comprehensive study of appellate courts, state and federal, including the following: role in the American legal order; jurisdiction; distinctive functions in relation to trial courts; distinctive functions of the two appellate levels; structure, organization, personnel, and internal processes. Material is included on the contemporary role of the appellate advocate and on ideas for future changes in appellate courts. Special attention is paid to the changes that have taken place in American appellate courts in response to the extraordinary rise in the volume of appeals in the late twentieth century. This course should be particularly useful and rewarding to students interested in litigation and the judicial process and to those aspiring to be law clerks for appellate judges.